One KU Research leadership expansion

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

As we approach winter break, I want to update you on progress toward One KU unification of our research enterprise.

I’m pleased to share that Shelley Hooks will serve as the One KU vice chancellor for research, expanding her leadership beyond the Lawrence campus to include all KU campuses.

Dr. Hooks and I have been working closely together since I assumed the role of chief research officer last year. She is a trusted, thoughtful partner who cares deeply about advancing KU’s research enterprise and is energized by the growth and impact we can achieve by better harnessing the power of our collective research activities.

Her role in the One KU model will focus on strategic direction and operational oversight for all campuses that make up KU’s research enterprise. Her responsibilities include stewardship of KU’s research centers and institutes, development of interdisciplinary programs, enhancement of extramural funding, and promotion of research integrity and compliance. In particular, she will focus on the basic/translational aspects of our research enterprise, and I will focus on the translational/clinical research side. This complementary leadership model will create incredible synergy across One KU, helping us harmonize our research enterprise to open cross-campus collaboration and achieve unprecedented integration of our research administration functions.

Next steps for Dr. Hooks include getting better acquainted with the KU Medical Center research community. She will soon begin a listening tour to meet investigators, assisted by our new associate vice chancellor for research on the medical campus, Hubert Tse.

We know it will take time to remove historical barriers on the path toward achieving better research collaboration and support across our campuses. We are committed to this effort because our role as one of the nation’s leading research universities demands that we maximize our ability to conduct research and devise solutions that improve health, well-being, safety, education and prosperity. 

As we continue to optimize our central research leadership and support structures, there will be additional staffing realignments that further integrate our campuses. We will keep you informed as those materialize. We have already activated our leadership teams to study opportunities to align and enhance research administration functions across the One KU research enterprise. It has been gratifying to see them embrace the call to work together through complexity with curiosity and respect — and to celebrate shared accomplishments.

As the chancellor acknowledged in his recent One KU message, change can give rise to questions and feelings of uncertainty. We echo his request for a spirit of openness, engagement and shared responsibility as we welcome this moment as a chance to build a more nimble, collaborative research enterprise that is better positioned to seize new opportunities.

If you have questions, comments or suggestions about any aspect of One KU Research integration, we invite you to share them through the One KU Research feedback form.

In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Dr. Hooks to her expanded role.

Respectfully,
Matthias

Matthias Salathe
Chief Research Officer
University of Kansas